HR as a Retention Strategy: Employee Pay

 

The Great Resignation: a term most leaders are probably tired of hearing but can’t ignore. So, instead, let’s talk about The Great Retention! We know tackling retention can be a daunting task, which is why we’re here to help you break it down and take it one step at a time.

THE GREAT RESIGNATION

Retention is becoming increasingly important as The Great Resignation shows no signs of slowing down.

“While U.S. workers are quitting in droves, employers are reporting record-high job openings—10.4 million in September—creating a scenario in which strained industries are competing for talent and driving up compensation.”SHRM

This means that not only are your leadership and HR teams feeling the impacts of these numbers, but your recruiting team is, and your employees likely are too. More competition in your industry means more pressure on your recruiting team, which probably means increased time in filling positions.

The effects don’t just stop there, though. Increased time in filling positions means more work on your people who are staying. This can lead to burnout and create a vicious cycle of resignations.

This is why it’s so important to take this seriously and try to get ahead of it. And if you’re still with us, that’s exactly what you’re doing!

THE GREAT RETENTION

While there’s no foolproof plan for keeping employees in any scenario, we’d like to share some strategies we’ve had success with at Nextep. We’re breaking it down to highlight how HR can be used to drive employee retention, starting with employee pay.

EMPLOYEE PAY

The Great Resignation and the impacts of an ongoing pandemic have long-lasting effects. As a result, employees are evaluating their personal and work lives and listing their non-negotiables. You’ll find that things like culture, work-life balance, and flexibility are increasingly important. But compensation remains a pivotal factor in choosing whether employees stay at a current job or look for new opportunities with better pay.

“Other outside factors may be at play as well,” said Lindsey Nichols, Nextep’s Vice President of Human Resources. “At Nextep, we’ve seen other companies, often located in high cost-of-living areas, attempt to recruit employees by offering higher salaries than we typically see in our lower cost-of-living location. As a result, this shift has prompted us to fine-tune our compensation strategy as an organization.”

A Pew Research Center study from February 2022 found that 63% of workers who quit a job in 2021 said low pay was why they left. Significantly, an average of 3.98 million workers quit their jobs each month in 2021, and similar trends continue into 2022. Now is therefore the time to take a serious look at your company’s compensation as a key part of your employee retention strategy.

A compensation review is a great retention tool to keep in your company’s tool belt. Let’s take a look at some general tips on how to go about using a compensation review to review employee pay at your company.

WHO’S IN CHARGE?

Firstly, take the time to establish who will take charge of your company’s compensation review. Depending on the size of your company and how many employees you have, an individual could manage the project. Alternatively, you can put together a committee to handle it. Departments involved with company-wide compensation reviews are typically human resources, business operations, and finance.

TAKE THE PULSE OF YOUR COMPANY

Go right to the source! Ideally, you’re talking to departing employees about their reason(s) for leaving. If compensation factored into their departure, be bold and ask them what their new pay and job title will be. Use this information in conjunction with other data to help you make compensation decisions.

Also, conducting an anonymous employee survey may be part of your regular process. Include a question about employees’ satisfaction with pay. What are they telling you? Use that data to your advantage!

GATHER MARKET DATA

It takes a lot more than gut feelings to set competitive salaries at your company. Getting access to accurate and verified salary data from trusted sources will be critical in your compensation research. It’s crucial to understand precisely where your company falls in terms of pay – businesses conducting salary assessments typically pay labor research firms for access to verified salary information.

For example, Nextep uses Payscale to help us compare our salaries based on job title, experience, and location to ensure we’re offering pay that’s competitive in the current job market.

Since the market changes often, it’s essential to do these assessments regularly, at least annually. We have found that COVID, inflation, current market conditions, The Great Resignation, and the rapidly changing way people work have caused a big shift in salary data and expectations in the past year, for example.

Once you’ve obtained reliable salary data, your next big task is to spend time analyzing the data you’ve gathered. Compare your company’s pay against the verified salary data to identify gaps in employee compensation and use that information to develop salary ranges and benchmarks for each role within your organization.

PUT THE RESEARCH INTO ACTION

Now you have up-to-date salary ranges for your company, it’s time to put the research to good use! Firstly, compare your employees’ current pay against the new salary ranges you’ve created. Then, determine if anyone is underpaid or where you can increase compensation to be more competitive.

From here, you can work on matching employee salaries to market trends. Compare the two to ensure you’re offering the most competitive pay possible for your organization. This step will help you retain employees and stand out to potential candidates in the current job market.

COMMUNICATE

To sum up, being compensated fairly and competitively at work can go a long way to make your people feel valued and appreciated! Be transparent with your people. Let your employees know your company is working to monitor trends in the current job market and actively taking steps to ensure pay is as competitive as possible.

Attracting and retaining top talent is something we pride ourselves on at Nextep. We’d love to chat with you about how we can help your business conduct a compensation review! Our goal is to help you bring in the best and brightest talent and keep them around in today’s changing market.

Let’s talk so we can help your company can join The Great Retention!

 

Do You Need More Than Just Travel Insurance These Days? (Hint YES)

By John Gobbels
30-Year Health and Public Safety Expert / Chief Operating Officer of Medjet

Despite the current geopolitical tensions in Europe, and the emergence of BA.2 (the newest Omicron variant) in the news, many people will nonetheless be heading out on spring and summer travel abroad. If there’s one thing the pandemic taught us, it was the value of travel insurance, especially “Cancel for Any Reason” insurance (commonly known as CFAR) and medical coverage. But is additional travel protection necessary?

Air medical transport and travel security memberships have been receiving a lot of attention in the media lately, are they really worth the extra cost? For most travel experts, the answer is an emphatic “yes.”

Travel Insurance Has Limitations

Travel insurance is important. The best will cover a good chunk of money back should you not be able (or feel safe enough) to go on the trip. It will cover trip interruption (extra hotel nights if you get delayed, or test positive for your return), medical expenses should you become ill or have an accident, and medical evacuation should you require medevac to the nearest hospital capable of treating you. But even with the best policies, that’s likely where you’ll stay.

You should always read the fine print in your travel insurance plan because the medical coverage is always limited to some extent. Medical treatment costs are capped at a certain dollar amount, transfer by air ambulance to a hospital at home (“repatriation”) is typically only done if “medically necessary”, and “hospital of choice” is frequently misread as “hospital of choice at home” (but really only means hospital of choice in the city you’re currently in).

Membership in a medical transport program like Medjet is affordable, and gives travelers greater control over where they receive medical care. Getting moved to a hospital at home becomes your choice, not left up to an insurance company to determine whether the current facility is “adequate” or not, and whether moving you is “medically necessary”. As medical professionals, you also understand the importance of getting back into a system of care you trust, and back under the higher limits of your own health insurance coverage.

Should you incur treatment costs above covered limits, or desire services not covered, the financial responsibility lies with you alone. A serious injury can quickly turn into a serious out-of-pocket bill, and a single medical transport to get moved home can range from $30,000 (domestic) to $180,000 (international).

Compared to a $99 Medjet membership, you begin to see why so many experts recommend this additional protection.

Security Threats Abroad

While tensions in Europe obviously have travelers nervous, violent crime is also on the rise globally. The pandemic stressed many economies, but perhaps the hardest hit were countries whose economies relied heavily on tourism. Crime has always been present in tourist destinations, but since the pandemic the U.S. Department of State’s Travel Advisory system has shown elevated security warnings for many areas typically thought of as “very safe”.

Medjet’s elevated membership, MedjetHorizon, adds a 24/7 security response line benefit, with in-country response to a wide variety of safety threats: Terrorism, political threat, violent crime, disappearance, kidnap for ransom, natural disaster and more. While travel insurance may also cover some security evacuations, they typically wait for the government to officially issue a mandate to evacuate, which puts you in the same last-minute scramble to get out as everyone else. MedjetHorizon members have access to security responses any time they begin to feel threatened.

It’s Not Just For “Dangerous” Travel

Travelers often dismiss the idea of getting a supplemental travel protection because they aren’t planning excursions like cage diving with sharks or participating in events like Spain’s annual Running With the Bulls. The extra protection doesn’t seem necessary if they’re just sightseeing. In reality, unexpected injuries and emergencies can happen at any time, and to anyone, not just people who are going on potentially “dangerous excursions” or participating in extreme sports or activities. If those types of activities ARE in your travel agenda, again, read the limitations of your insurance policy because many won’t cover injuries sustained while doing them. Medjet has no “adventure travel” exclusions (and no pre-existing condition exclusions under age 75).

Accidents Happen Close to Home Too

An added bonus of being an annual Medjet member is that it covers domestic travel as well, any time you venture more than 150 miles from home. Most of our members buy our protection for the “big international trip” but many of our transports each year end up being for accidents like a slip and fall at a wedding, or a serious illness landing a member in a hospital just a few states away. Right now, we’re inundated with spring skiing accidents and summer will likely bring its typical heavy load of downed motorcycle transports. People don’t think about our program for domestic travel because most health insurance covers emergency treatment in other states. But it can be just as unsettling to be stuck in an unfamiliar hospital a few states away as it is to be stuck in one halfway around the world.

 

TIA members receive discounts on annual Medjet Memberships by using the link Medjet.com/TIA, or by calling 800-527-7478 and mentioning Transportation Intermediaries Association (TIA).

 

TIA is the premier organization for third-party logistics professionals in North America and abroad. Membership at TIA adds value to your business and provides resources for growth.
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